The Issue
Tap Water
Most Americans enjoy high quality drinking water, but contamination by agricultural pesticides and disinfection byproducts is a problem for others. Check out your water supply with EWG’s National Drinking Water Database.
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The Latest on Tap Water
As drilling for natural gas pushes more and more into shale formations in populated areas, the problem of gas bubbling into drinking water is occurring with increasing frequency. Several homeowners have reported flaming tap water and have feared explosions. The danger is not just a theoretical one: a home in Bainbridge, Ohio, exploded in 2007 because the hydraulic fracturing and cementing of a nearby gas well was done improperly.
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A new report released today by federal health officials shows that the decades-long case of drinking water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is one of the worst on record.
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No matter where you live, the tap water is sure to contain some chemicals you don’t want to drink. For instance, we at Environmental Working Group recently reviewed the water quality tests of 201 big water utilities that serve 100 million Americans. As our new report shows, every single one of them was polluted with unwanted chemicals called trihalomethanes, which are linked to bladder cancer and other serious disorders.
Read MoreThe Environmental Working Group has released its new online water filter buying guide with more options and new tips for consumers who want cleaner drinking water for themselves and their families.
Read MoreAcross the nation, chlorine, added as a disinfectant to kill disease- causing microganisms in dirty source water, is reacting with rotting organic matter like sewage, manure from livestock, dead animals and fallen leaves to form toxic chemicals that are potentially harmful to people.
Read MoreA new Environmental Working Group analysis of 2011 water quality tests by 201 large U.S. municipal water systems that serve more than 100 million people in 43 states has determined that all are polluted with unwanted toxic chemicals called trihalomethanes. These chemicals, an unintended side effect of chlorination, elevate the risks of bladder cancer, miscarriages and other serious ills.
Read MoreWhat is most important to you in a water filter? Check out EWG's Water Filter Buying Guide. Find the right filter for your water - and budget.
Read MoreWASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are not opposed to more domestic energy production, but they are unwilling to achieve it by sacrificing clean water, increased energy efficiency, and expanded wind and solar power in the process, according to a major new ORC International survey conducted for the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI) and Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Read MoreA New York Times headline this month (Nov, 13) read: “The Problem is Clear: The Water is Filthy.” It should have read: “The Problem is Clear: Agriculture Granted the Right to Make the Water Filthy.”
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Environmental Working Group commends the EPA for taking action to protect Americans from perchlorate, the endocrine-disrupting compound that has long been an important public health issue.
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Although scientists and government regulators have long known about the ever-present threat of arsenic in our diet and water, it was unsettling when two major reports came out on the same day (Sept. 19) reminding us of the risk of arsenic in foods, particularly rice.
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EWG commends EPA for taking action to protect Americans from perchlorate, an endocrine-disrupting compound and contaminant in tap water.
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Guaranteeing a clean and ample supply of water should be at the core of our energy policy. Sometimes Washington seems to have forgotten that. But a recent survey shows that the American people have not.
Read MoreWe walked up to the White House Appointments Desk at 17th Street and State Place NW, headed for the West Wing. The security officer examined Jerry Ensminger's military identification card and then said "Semper Fi!" With no sense of irony, Jerry responded "Semper Fi," the "always faithful" Marine mantra he had repeated so many times before.
Read MoreThis week, EWG joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in filing a suit against California regulators for failing to develop a drinking water standard to protect millions of state residents against contamination by hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6.
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The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group today sued the California Department of Public Health for failing to protect millions of Californians from hexavalent chromium, the cancer-causing chemical made infamous in the movie “Erin Brockovich” for contaminating drinking water and sickening residents in the town of Hinkley, California.
Read MorePresident Obama signed into law today the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act, which will provide essential health benefits to veterans and their families who were made ill by contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Read MoreEWG president Ken Cook has issued the following statement on the passage of the Janey Ensminger Act
Read MoreThe U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bipartisan bill that provides health benefits to veterans and their families exposed to contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Read MoreThe U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill that furnishes health care benefits to veterans and their families made ill from polluted drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
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